Journal of Food Processing & Technology

Food safety knowledge and food-handling practices of women responsible for food preparation in the households of Mangweni village of Ehlanzeni district in Mpumalanga province, South Africa

International Conference on Food Safety and Regulatory Measures

August 17-19, 2015 Birmingham, UK

Masia Tirhani Asnath and Madonsela Phindile Connie

University of Venda, South Africa

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Food Process Technol

Abstract:

Objectives: The study was conducted to determine the level of knowledge and food-handling practices among women responsible for food preparation in the households of Mangweni village with regard to food safety. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. Data were collected from 120 women responsible for food preparation throughface-to-face questionnaire. Data was statistically analyzed using SPSS. Results: The age distribution of women ranged from 19 to 43 years with the mean age of 29.9 (SD= ±1.39). 58.3% of the women had attained secondary level of education and 33.3% had tertiary education. The findings on the level of food safety knowledge revealed that 1.6% of the women had adequate knowledge, 53.9% had satisfactory knowledge and 44.5% had limited knowledge. Age and educational level had no influence on the level of food safety knowledge. With regard to food-handling practices, women reported good practices in some of the aspects. For example, 56.7% of the women washed hands with soap and water before handling food and 51.7% place frozen meat at the lower shelf of the trolley at the end of shopping trip. Conclusion: The results show the need of educational initiatives on food safety practices in the households among women as they usually the one responsible for food preparation.

Biography :

Masia Tirhani Asnath is a Lecturer at the University of Venda, South Africa since 2007. She is a registered Nutritionist (HPCSA) holding a Degree and Masters in Community and Public Nutrition, respectively. She is currently enrolled for Post-graduate Diplopia in Health Professional Education with University of Cape Town. Her research interest on food safety was built from Food Science module that she teaches the undergraduate nutrition students. Her other research area of interest is maternal and child health.

Email: Tirhani.masia@univen.ac.za